Book Endings and Time Spent Writing

Hello everyone! It’s the end of the month and that means it’s time for another coffee date with yours truly :). I’ve really enjoyed the questions you, the readers, have been sending me and I’m excited to dive into the next two questions for this month. So here we go!

Daniel asks: “Do you ever get caught up in your book, then dream a new ending?”

I think my characters wish this would happen, and I would simply dream up a new ending, preferably one that says, “Everything they ever wanted to have happen happened, and they lived happily ever after.”

But to answer your question, no. Once I have an ending in mind, that is the one that happens. There might be some minor changes, but that is how the story ends.

The reason for this is the ending is my target as I’m writing the story. I’m constantly asking myself if this scene or chapter is bringing my story one step closer to that ending I have in mind. If I’m writing a story where the hero needs to face a dragon at the end, then go and write a chapter about cute, fluffy rabbits, I’m deviating from my ending (unless the rabbits are eaten by the dragon at the end of the chapter, reminding the reader of the dragon).

When I sit down to write a book, I have to know the beginning, the main events, and the ending. Then I can write. So if I dreamed up a new ending halfway through the book, I have a feeling I’d have to rewrite the whole story :).

Thanks, Daniel!

Judy asks: “How many hours a day do you spend writing?”

I spend anywhere from 2-5 hours a day writing. I write one thousand words a day at least, and depending how fast that scene comes to me is how long I spend writing (and then there are days when I get caught up in the story and write even more words). But in order to keep up with my deadlines, I must write at least 1k words a day. However, that said, I take Friday-Sundays off to spend time with my family and catch up on stuff.

Now, if the question was how long do you spend editing, that is a whole different story (when I get my edits back from my publisher, usually I’m crunched for time and spend 6,8, even 10 hours a day on edits. That’s when I disappear from life for a couple of weeks).

Thanks, Judy!

I love to hear from my readers and if you have a burning question you’d like answered during my end-of-the-month coffee dates, please leave it in the comments below 🙂